In brief: Lynx dispatch Mercury, head to WNBA finals

WNBA: Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists to lead the Minnesota Lynx past the Phoenix Mercury 103-86 Sunday in Phoenix to advance to the WNBA finals for the first time.

Maya Moore had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Minnesota, which needed three games to eliminate San Antonio in the first round before sweeping the Mercury in the Western Conference finals.

The Lynx await the winner of the Indiana-Atlanta series. The final series begins Sunday in Minnesota, which had the league’s best record in the regular season.

Diana Taurasi had 22 points for the Mercury, who were swept in the West finals by eventual champion Seattle a year ago.

• Dream even series with Fever: Iziane Castro Marques moved into Atlanta’s starting lineup and scored a season-high 30 points as the Dream beat the visiting Indiana Fever 94-77 to even the Eastern Conference finals.

Angel McCoughtry had 27 points for Atlanta, which thrived in Game 2 with a small lineup made necessary when starting center Erika de Souza left to play for Brazil in an Olympics qualifying tournament in Colombia.

The deciding Game 3 in the best-of-three series will be played Tuesday at Indianapolis.

WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings had only eight points, seven below her average, before hurting her right foot and leaving with 4:54 remaining.

Katie Douglas made five 3-pointers and led Indiana with 25 points.

New Mexico parts ways with Locksley

College football: Mike Locksley, whose three years as head football coach at New Mexico have been mostly marked by losses and off-field problems, was fired.

Athletic director Paul Krebs announced Locksley’s dismissal in a statement and said associate head coach and defensive coordinator George Barlow will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season.

The Lobos are 0-4 this season. They were 2-26 under Locksley, including consecutive 1-11 seasons the past two years, and he appeared to be on the verge of being fired last December. However, a buyout reportedly would have cost the university almost $1.5 million.

New Mexico lost 48-45 in overtime Saturday to Sam Houston State before an announced crowd of 16,313 at University Stadium in Albuquerque. It was the Lobos’ smallest home crowd in almost 19 years.

Before the game, Albuquerque police arrested a man claiming to be a New Mexico football recruit on suspicion of driving while intoxicated near the stadium.

A school official said Joshua Butts, 19, borrowed a vehicle from Locksley’s son, who’s a walk-on player for the Lobos.

• Kill to get more treatment for seizures: Minnesota coach Jerry Kill is headed back to the hospital to seek more treatment for the seizures that have plagued him for more than two weeks now. And it is unclear when he will be back on the sideline.

The university issued a statement saying Kill was re-admitting himself for further examination after he suffered yet another seizure earlier Sunday morning.

Team physician Dr. Pat Smith said Kill is in good condition and his vital signs are strong, but the coach will be admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for further testing.

Kill has dealt with the seizures for years, taking medication to keep them under control. He suffered one late in the game against New Mexico State on Sept. 10, but returned to coach in the Golden Gophers’ games against Miami (Ohio) and North Dakota State.

Penguins’ Crosby plays in scrimmage

Hockey: Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby participated in a controlled scrimmage on Sunday as he continues his comeback from concussion-like symptoms that have kept him off the ice since January.

Crosby took face-offs and worked on set plays alongside his teammates in his first five-on-five action since training camp opened last weekend.

The former MVP says he has been symptom free throughout camp but continues to wear a white helmet during practice to indicate he still hasn’t been cleared for contact.

• Pat Burns Arena opens: Pat Burns Arena officially opened in Stanstead, Quebec, 10 months after the former NHL coaching great died.

Burns’ widow, Line, was joined at Saturday’s ceremony by some of her late husband’s old hockey friends, including former coach Jacques Demers and former players Henri Richard, Guy Carbonneau and Patrice Brisebois.

The three-time NHL coach of the year died Nov. 19, 2010, after a long battle with cancer.

The arena was built on the campus of Stanstead College and will be used by the school and residents in the Quebec-Vermont border region.

Makau sets marathon record in Berlin

Miscellany: Patrick Makau of Kenya broke the world record to win the Berlin Marathon.

Makau pulled away after 16.8 miles and finished in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 38 seconds.

Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who held the previous record of 2:03.59, pulled up after Makau’s breakaway and seemed on the verge of giving up when he stopped running and bent over, but resumed the race. Gebrselassie had won four successive Berlin marathons from 2006 and set his world record in 2008.

Florence Kiplagat of Kenya won the women’s race in 2:19.44.

• Tsonga wins Moselle Open: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the final of the Moselle Open in Metz, France, to win his first title since 2009.

The No. 10-ranked Tsonga won his sixth career title. It was his first since Tokyo two years ago, and improved his chances of earning a spot for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

• Olympic coach accused of sexual abuse: Two women have told the Orange County Register they were sexually abused in the 1980s by the man who coached the 1984 Olympic gymnastics team.

USA Gymnastics is aware of the allegations against Don Peters and is looking into them, president Steve Penny said. Should the federation find merit to the allegations, the 62-year-old Peters could be subject to a lifetime ban.

• Barcelona ratifies shirt deal, bans smoking: Barcelona’s club members ratified the $230 million, five-year shirt sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation and voted to ban smoking at Camp Nou.

The team shirt began bearing the Qatar Foundation logo this season, but the club’s general assembly needed to approve the agreement.

The decision to sell advertising space on its jersey for the first time in the club’s 112-year history had brought strong criticism from former president Joan Laporta and former player and coach Johan Cruyff. But 697 members voted yes to the deal, while only 76 voted no and 36 abstained.

Club vice president Javier Faus said the club had no choice but to accept the deal given its “substantial economic impact.” The team has debt of $499 million.